Through the creation of a state checklist, we now know that there are nearly 600 bee species that call Washington home. But what goes into making the checklist? Chanda Bartholomew will discuss the process and the challenges encountered while building the Washington bee checklist. She’ll also share what she found as well as highlight a few of the amazing 565+ species historically found in the state.

Chanda Bartholomew fell in love with bees while working on her thesis looking at the bee diversity of Louisiana longleaf pine savannas. She currently works with the Washington State Department of Agriculture in the Entomology Lab where she has been working on some projects with bees.